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DETERMINISM
Sociologyindex, Sociology Books 2012
Determinism is the theory that examination of one or more
definable factors allows for a complete explanation and prediction of the characteristics
of society or the individual.
For example,
to argue that societies gain all their central
characteristics from the psychological drives of human beings is a form of psychological
determinism;
to explain the social roles and behavior of men and women
by reference chiefly to their sex is biological determinism.
‘Criminology never really embraced the psychological
determinism inherent in most learning psychologies’
Genetic Determinism - How Not to Interpret Behavioral Genetics
Huib Looren de Jong, Vrije Universiteit,
Theory & Psychology, Vol. 10, No. 5, 615-637 (2000) © 2000 SAGE Publications
Recently, investigators in behavioral genetics have found loci on the genome (so-called
`quantitative trait loci' or QTLs) that are associated with complex mental traits, such as
anxiety or novelty seeking. The interpretation of these findings raises interesting
theoretical questions. At first sight, the discovery of `genes-for-personality' seems to
support genetic determinism and reductionism. Genetic determinism is the view that the
phenotype is precoded in or determined by the genotype. However, evidence from
developmental biology and neural modeling indicates that development is a result of
interactive processes at many levels, not only the genome, so that geneticism must be
rejected. Identifying QTLs and perhaps also the causal paths in the tangle of top-down and
bottom-up influences between genome, organism and environment is best seen as a
simplification. It amounts to considerably less than reduction in the classical sense of
replacement via bridge laws or elimination. It is argued that higher (psychological and
physiological) levels are functionally characterized and are irreducible to
molecular-genetic levels. Therefore, it is to be expected that ideas about inter-level
relations may be useful in clarifying the relation between loci on the genome (QTLs), gene
products, the nervous system, behavior and personality, and to help identify the
contribution of genetic factors in behavioral genetics.
Carving up Population Science - Eugenics, Demography and
the Controversy over the ‘Biological Law’ of Population Growth
Edmund Ramsden, 117 Alma Road, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 3EU, UK; tel.: +44 1753
Social Studies of Science, Vol. 32, No. 5-6, 857-899 (2002) © 2002 SAGE Publications
Using the analytical framework of boundary-work, I examine how the cultural space of
demography, its borders and its territories, were constructed and reconstructed as
scientists continuously struggled to maintain, increase, and defend the cognitive
authority of science and particular interpretations of reality. While the emerging field
of population united both biologists and social scientists in the early 20th century, the
controversy over the biologist Raymond Pearl’s logistic curve in the inter-war period
became one of the defining features in the development of the population sciences in the
United States. Pearl’s use of the logistic curve reflected his biologically
determinist vision of human progress and the definition and function of science within
that process. Pearl’s critics, the majority numbered among the social sciences,
opposed such an imperialistic vision. With the weakening of Pearl’s influence,
American demography was clearly defined as a social science. In disciplinary histories,
Pearl’s defeat is attributed to scientific progress and the collapse of credibility
for the eugenics movement. Thus a history of a scientific progression from biological
determinism to social empiricism is combined with a shift from population ideology to
population science. Yet the attack on the biological lawsin the 1930s had as much to do
with differing opinions as how to best regulate a population according to eugenic
standards, as it was a struggle between a biologically determinist eugenics and a social
science of reform. - sss.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/5-6/857
Brain, Sex and Ideology - Catherine Vidal, Institut Pasteur, Paris
Diogenes, Vol. 52, No. 4, (2005) International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic
Studies
Since the 19th century, and despite tremendous progress in science, the topic of 'brain
and sex' remains a matter of misleading interpretations, far beyond the field of science.
The media are not solely responsible for this situation. Some scientific circles still
actively promote the ideology of biological determinism in their attempt to explain
differences in behaviour and cognitive abilities between men and women. Experimental data
from brain imaging studies, cognitive tests or the discovery of new genes are often
distorted to serve deterministic ideas. As biotechnologies and genetic engeneering
represent today a new economic and lucrative challenge, the question of what is innate and
what is acquired is becoming more and more significant, requiring vigilant scrutiny from
us all. - dio.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/52/4/127
Psychological Determinism and the Evolving Nursing Paradigm
E. Carol Polifroni, Sheila Packard, RN; PhD, University of Connecticut, Storrs,
CT
Nursing Science Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 2, 63-68 (1993) © 1993 SAGE Publications
The purpose of this article is to explore three behaviorist theories and their roles
within the evolving paradigm of nursing. The authors suggest that the behaviorist theories
of locus of control, self-efficacy, and the health belief model are derived from
deterministic philosophical premises. These premises are in direct conflict with the
premise of free will. As interpreted by the authors and many others, the emerging paradigm
of nursing relies on the free will of the individual, the ability of the individual to
choose for himself/herself what course of action to take, to avoid, or to pursue. The
authors address the psychological deterministic philosophical premises within the three
theories and utilize nursing theories to compare and contrast the views of free will and
determinism. Finally, they suggest that the use of borrowed and applied theories should
decline when nurse scientists are true to the philosophical assumptions of theories within
nursing science. - nsq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/6/2/63
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